


Photographs

by stillskies



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-04
Updated: 2012-03-04
Packaged: 2017-11-01 03:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/351531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillskies/pseuds/stillskies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fuji takes pictures. Sometimes, Tezuka is in them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Photographs

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 08-12-2006

Fuji's passion for photography had been ignited one afternoon in elementary school when he had caught a horrid case of the flu. Going to class, it appeared, wasn’t an option, so he had been forced to stay home. His mother had offered to take care of him, but he shooed her away, telling her he would be fine and that he would call her if he suddenly felt worse.

After placating his mother’s fears, he cheerfully waved goodbye and climbed back into bed. He had slept for a few hours and when he had woken up, he read a little. He had finished the book an hour later, and, with nothing else to do, he stared out his bedroom window.

He didn’t look at anything in particular, just the general scenery before his attention drifted towards a maple tree. He couldn’t find anything special about the tree, but the way the light hit it at just the right angle seemingly made it shine. Idly, he wondered if the tree would look the same if he tilted his head just a little to the left.

He continued experimenting with different angles until his neck grew stiff and the sun began its slow decline. Yumiko had stuck her head in just as he started playing with perception and politely inquired what he was doing.

Fuji merely smiled and replied, “I’m looking at the tree.”

His older sister smiled back and sat on the edge of his bed, placing one hand on his forehead to gauge his temperature. “You’re fever’s gone down,” she murmured.

He nodded distractedly, eyes once again fixed on the tree.

Yumiko shook her head in amusement and left, telling him she would return with some soup for him.

A week later, Fuji had been presented with a brand new camera. Yumiko told him that he could take pictures of the tree and decide what lighting and angle was best while having other pictures to compare it to. 

+++

 

The first time Fuji noticed Tezuka had not been at tennis practice. It had been in the background of a picture he had taken at lunch. The picture had been simple- although, if you were to ask him about the lighting or the angle, he would go into a rather detailed explanation of the elements involved in such a simple looking photograph- but it had also been the first one he had developed himself.

He had been inspecting the photograph critically- the light glinted off the building window a bit too harshly for his liking- when he had noticed the boy sitting off to the side. If he had been a little more to the left, he thought, then he’d have been cropped out of it altogether. He hadn’t given it much thought outside of artistic criticism, but inevitably came to the conclusion that the boy in the picture added something to it. 

He showed the photo to Yumiko. She complimented him on the quality of the photo before pointing out the boy. “Who is he, Syuusuke?” she asked.

Fuji shrugged his shoulders. The other boy looked familiar, but not enough to jog his memory. “Don’t you think he adds something to the picture, though?” he inquired.

Yumiko smiled knowingly. “I think he adds to more than just the photo,” she replied before walking off.

He stood there, watching her as she went about making dinner, and wondered what she meant.

The next day, he was formally introduced to Tezuka Kunimitsu-kun.

+++

 

Second year of junior high started much the same as his first year, except now Yuuta would be attending Seishun. He brought his camera along with him, idly snapping away at things that caught his attention, and chatted with his younger brother on the way.

“Saa, are you joining the tennis club, Yuuta?” he inquired, pausing in his stride to adjust the lens before taking a picture of a sakura tree in full bloom. 

“I don’t know, Aniki,” Yuuta replied warily. It had been a subject they pretty much left alone; Syuusuke was nigh unbeatable, and he worried that comparisons would be made. 

“You should,” Fuji encouraged warmly. “I could introduce you to some of the Regulars, if you’d like.”

Yuuta shook his head, politely declining the offer.

They reached the school gates and Fuji caught sight of Tezuka. He turned to face his brother before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the other teen.

“Tezuka,” Fuji greeted the taller teen cheerfully. “This is my younger brother, Yuuta. Yuuta, this is Tezuka. He’s the tennis club’s vice-captain.”

Tezuka nodded politely at Yuuta. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Fuji-kun.”

Fuji beamed as Yuuta nodded back and exchanged pleasantries. He waited until a lull in conversation appeared before pulling Tezuka’s attention back to him. “I have copies of the pictures I took during the last match, if you’d like them,” he offered.

Tezuka nodded and accepted the photos. He looked through them briefly, pausing when he reached a photo of Oishi Syuuichiro and Kikumaru Eiji.

Fuji looked over his shoulder and smiled when he looked at the picture. “Do you think they’d like a copy of that?” he wondered aloud.

Tezuka nodded before continuing his perusal of the pictures. The first bell rang, and Yuuta excused himself. Fuji sternly lectured his brother on the dangers of the school before wishing him well and allowing him to leave.

When his brother was well out of sight, he turned to Tezuka. “Walk me to class?” he asked.

Tezuka sighed before nodding.

+++

 

Fuji caught a cold two days before the Kantou tournament his third year of junior high. He once again had to stay home to allay his mother’s fears.

He sat on the edge of his bed and fiddled with his camera, idly wondering how practice was going and whether Tezuka would be angry about him missing out on an opportunity to train this close to the regionals. He pushed the thought from his mind; Captain Tezuka wouldn’t want him at practice unless he could give- or least, have the option of giving- one hundred percent. 

He turned and looked out his bedroom window, eyes alighting on the tree that he had stared at for hours a few years ago. He took the shutter off the camera lens and began snapping shots. He took them at different distances and angles. He used books and blinds and various articles of clothing to alter the lighting. 

An hour passed and he had already been through three rolls of film. He was about to stop when a familiar silhouette appeared by the tree. Fuji smiled and snapped another shot, taking care that the shadows from the leaves wouldn’t shroud the person’s face in darkness, before he gently set his camera on his windowsill. 

“Tezuka,” he called down. “Are you here to ask me to let down my hair?” Fuji batted his eyelashes.

Tezuka merely shook his head tersely. “I came to see how you were feeling,” he replied. 

Fuji nodded. “I feel fine, Captain,” he informed him. “It’s just a cold.”

His captain nodded before reminding him of the scheduled meeting time for the tournament and taking his leave. Fuji stood and went to down to the basement to develop his latest roll of film.

He pulled the picture of Tezuka under the tree as soon as it dried and placed it with the two other pictures he had taken of the other teen.

+++

 

When Tezuka left for Kyuushu, Fuji’s camera became an inseparable part of him. He snapped pictures of anything and everything that reminded him of his missing captain. 

The team quickly learned to be cooperative less they incur the genius’ wrath. Photographs mysteriously appearing of things they’d rather not let others know happened to be more than enough incentive for them.

The first picture Tezuka received showed Oishi and Eiji in a practice game against Inui and Kaidoh. 

The next photo he received pictured Taka-san and Ishida-san from Fudoumine adjusting the stance for the Hadokyuu. 

Fuji made sure that Tezuka received a photo every week he was gone. The last picture he received depicted a shadow on the tennis court.

It was the first picture Fuji had ever taken of himself. It was also the picture of himself he’d ever given to another.

+++

 

At their high school graduation ceremony, Fuji gave Tezuka a photo album. When the bespectacled teen opened it, there was a photo of one of the buildings at Seishun Gakuen. He couldn’t find anything special about the photograph the first time he looked at it, except that the quality and capture of the photograph was superb.

The rest of the album held miscellaneous photographs of varying importance over the years. Pictures from all three years at Seishun, photos of the games at Nationals their third year. There were pictures of their high school years, as well. 

He paused when he reached the end of the photo album. The last few pages were filled with pictures of himself that he hadn’t even been aware Fuji had taken. Another picture of a building- this time, one of the high school buildings- appeared on the last page. He looked it over critically, absentmindedly noting that the lighting was almost identical to the first picture. In the corner of the photo, he noticed himself standing there, looking at the building.

He quickly flipped back to the beginning and gazed at the first picture. He looked in the left corner, only slightly surprised when he saw a young boy sitting off to the side.

“When did you take this?” he asked curiously.

Fuji smiled. “First year,” he answered. “I didn’t even notice you sitting there until after I had the picture developed and looked it over. I thought you added something to the picture.”

Tezuka waited expectantly for Fuji to continue, but when the silence dragged on, he inquired, “What did you think I added?”

Fuji merely shrugged. “I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “Emotion, maybe? ‘Neesan said that you’d add to more than just the picture.” Fuji chuckled. “She was right.”

The taller teen didn’t respond, instead looking at the picture. He couldn’t see how he added anything to it. “Why do you have so many pictures of me outside your window?” he asked.

Fuji smirked. “Saa, if Captain wouldn’t keep walking by my window, then I wouldn’t have so many pictures of you outside of it.” His blue eyes shone mischievously. “I suppose I could have always taken pictures of you inside my room,” he replied thoughtfully.

Tezuka rolled his eyes. “Why are you giving this to me?” 

The fair-haired man’s smile softened. “I wanted to give you something important to me,” he explained. “Every photograph is a memory I treasure.”

The bespectacled man smiled in return. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Fuji merely waved the thanks off. “We should probably get back,” he pointed out.

Nodding, Tezuka stepped forward. He leaned into Fuji slowly, giving the other man time to move back if he wished. Fuji leaned in, and Tezuka wasn’t surprised. Their lips brushed softly before they pulled away.

“Saa,” Fuji pouted. “Too bad I didn’t have my camera.”

Tezuka shook his head, and Fuji laughed.


End file.
